Tignes Diary - Week 16

Saturday 17th April

More grey skies but no snow. I join Dan and Tam in Val D'Isere for lunch at the Billabong Cafe (great burgers and waffles) and a bit of shopping. Find a shop that is selling everything at half price, so get myself some new boarding gloves with leather palms and fingers, a snip at 30 euros.

Friday 16th April

Yet another bad weather day. I go out with Dan and Jimbo, but after a few runs we stop by the Snow Food snack shack for some lunch, and that is the end of the boarding. I get another bargain in the sales though, 686 pants for 65 euros. In the evening everyone in the apartment joins Dan, Tamsin and Chris in The Fish Tank in Val Claret to watch Arsenal thrash Leeds 5-0. Poor Dan is devastated, being a Leeds fan. The big turnout is in honour of Jimbo's last night as only Michelle and I from the apartment like football!

Thursday 15th April

The weather has closed in again and we have another white out. I do a couple of runs up Palafour with Michelle, finding lots of natural hits off the side of the piste. Michelle and I watch the end of the Newcastle v PSV Eindhoven game in the Red Lion before heading off to The Loop for the end of season 2 for 1 drinks promotion

Wednesday 14th April

The weather has cleared and everyone assembles at Les Tuffs resteraunt in La Daille for a buffet at midday, an end of season get together. For some reason, maybe because it is so sunny, the slopes are ridiculously busy, and we all end up coming back early.

Tuesday 13th April

The weather has closed in again and we have another white out stopping everyone from going out. I had planned a day off anyway, the body needs to recover from the recent off piste activity. Highlight of the day is the visit to the cake shop. Mmm, cake. Watch Man U beat Leicester 1-0 in the Fish Tank in Val Claret in the evening.

Monday 12th April

Time for a change so Dan, Tamsin, Tom, Jimbo and I drive down to St. Foy, a small resort down the valley. It only has three lifts but vast areas of off-piste. We do an off piste run off the back off the resort which tales us to a remote village called Le Mondal, in the middle of a valley with no roads in or out. The walk back to St. Foy is twice as long as the run, but it makes for a good day out.

Sunday 11th April

It is a beautiful blue sky day and there is plenty of fresh powder to be had. Dan, Jimbo and I spend the entire day in Tignes hiking and doing off-piste runs, getting lots of good footage. The Grand Balme, Col du Ves, Toviere Ridge and Borsat and OK off piste runs made for a great day's boarding with barely a piste run done until we came home via Piste H and Trolles. A top day rounded off with seasonaires night in the Alpaka.